La Baracca Espresso Bar & Trattoria — Restaurant in Lismore

Anyone with serious allergies or intolerances I highly recommend you DO NOT eat at this location.

I am strongly concerned about the health and wellbeing for our community, specifically anyone who has dietary requirements.

I ordered breakfast over the phone from La Baracca on Thursday 20th and clearly stated 3x times that I can’t have any sesame on it. I included the words ‘I am allergic’.

I ordered a side of Turkish bread, side of avocado and side of mushrooms without butter and without sesame.

I received bread that had sesame seeds throughout the entire bun, mushrooms that were cooked in butter and one piece of bread that had butter spread on it.

The staff member on the phone was Hanna, -I was told ‘there are no sesame seeds in the Turkish bread’ -I was told ‘there is a note saying no butter’ -I prompted her to write a note saying no sesame by explaining again that I can’t have any sesame on the bread and I can’t have a garnish with it either, as some places do this and I am allergic to sesame, but I did not gain clarification if she wrote this down, she just stated ‘we won’t do that to ya’.

I collected my order, returned to work and was holding the bread to my mouth about to take a bite when I thankfully noticed the sesame throughout the bun.

I phoned them back; -they didn’t apologise and lacked understanding that this was an allergy. -their response was that they could re-make it on white bread or sourdough. -I explained that I couldn’t leave work again so I would have to come back after work for a refund -they said they could refund me on the bread but not for the rest of the meal -I said that I can’t eat the rest of the meal so I would like a full refund -they sharply said fine

I received no apology or concern for my wellbeing and also felt as though they did not understand that I would have died if I had eaten it without receiving urgent medical attention.

When I went in to collect my refund I had the intention to speak to the manager to ensure they had protocols put in place to prevent this situation occurring again.

When I asked to speak to a manager I was informed that they weren’t on shift, I then asked to speak to someone higher up and the staff member then told me the manager is on shift and they will go get them.

Turned out the manager on shift was Hanna – the one who took my order over the phone.

I had a very poor experience with her and I left the shop not feeling heard or understood. -she lied and said that she communicated to the staff member who took my order, but I eventually gathered that it was her who was on the phone with me. -she said that the staff member on the phone told her that I (the customer) never stated that it was an allergy and if I expect to receive food without something then I need to make it clear that it is an allergy. -she also said that the phone line was poor (the interaction I had over the phone did not match this statement). -When I mentioned there was butter in my food she said ‘oh yea there would have been butter in the mushrooms but I overlooked the bread and there was no butter on the bread’.

I told her that I was not communicated about the mushrooms having butter in it, even though I asked for no butter in my food.

She again put it on me and said ‘well yea you never said that butter was an allergy and the staff members would have thought you didn’t want butter on the bread and that I should have been more specific and said no butter on the mushrooms and no butter on the bread’.

I am seriously concerned about customers eating from here as the staff members clearly don’t understand allergies. I was not able to reach a resolution with the manager and I don’t feel confident that any actions will be taken to prevent this incident from occurring again!

I also feel really disrespected from the staff members at this location and disappointed that there are still restaurants functioning without understanding the serious ramifications...

Have been here earlier this year. Back in town for work. Solo. Went for breakfast thinking it was nice last time. Walked in - the staff were seating others. Sign said to take a seat & we will attend to you. So I did. 10 mins later still no service. I eventually caught the eye of a waitress- I waved & she looked at me acknowledged me & turned, ignoring me & took a couple to their table. So went i to counter. Spotted 5 waitresses talking & laughing near main counter. Not one moved to help. There was no one else standing in the middle of the floor & they couldn’t miss me anyway being a larger lady. Owner (I assume) was at coffee machine asked if I was right. Again no greetings I politely asked for a menu he asked where are u sitting i indicated to the back area. He DID send a waitress. She had water & a menu - no greetings - asked if I’d reserved a table. I replied No sorry. She said well ull have to move as this table is reserved. I looked no sign - I pointed that the one to my right had a sign mine did not. She said well it is - sighing she continued’ I’ll have to clean another table pointing to the table to my left.’ She was looking at me as if she really didn’t want to do it. So I stood & told her - ‘ You know what? Don’t bother!’ I walked out & took my business elsewhere. Won’t be back. Some may say I was wrong but how long do people have to wait then after they’ve waited they still have to wait longer til staff get their act together. Enough is enough! I was a paying customer - the staff may not have liked how I looked or didn’t want to serve me but it’s still their job to serve. I am sick & tired of going out solo & being ignored. I was neatly dressed. I could’ve turned up in my dirty scrubs but chose not to! Owners expect people to pay huge prices for their food & service & all the paying customer gets is mediocre at best for both. It’s time people stopped paying for crappy service (& food!) To the owners - if you employ youngsters maybe u need to spend time on the basics of customer service. I was ok to move tables until ur young waitress sighed & ‘the do I have to’ attitude showed its ugly...

We went for dinner to celebrate our son’s 13th birthday. We were beyond disappointed with the food and service. The menu didn’t have many options. Our entrees arrived within a reasonable timeframe of ordering and they were decent, but nothing we couldn’t cook at home. We then waited over 2 hours for our mains to arrive. When they arrived they were awful. The duck was dry, tough and the portions tiny. The pumpkin puree was 4 small teaspoon size serving plopped on the plate. The servings were not generous. The only decent main was the 300gram sirloin, but anyone could cook it as well at home on the BBQ. I ordered a cocktail and when it arrived it was warm. At no pint during the evening did anyone come to update us as to why the meals took so long, and they only asked us twice all night if we wanted to order drinks. This restaurant came recommended but unfortunately we will never return as it was such a disappointing meal and...